The J Curve with Olga Maslikhova

Tuesday, May 31: For this episode of The J Curve I am thrilled to bring you my conversation with Jorge Vargas Neto and Vanessa Muglia, co-founders at BHub a Brazilian startup that offers full back-office SaaS for small and medium businesses in Latin America, that has recently raised $20m in Series A from the lines of Monashees, Valor Capital and QED Investors.  Prior to BHub, Jorge co-founded Zen Finance that was sold to Rappi and Biva that was acquired by PágSeguro. Vanessa was a co-founder at Civi, an app that makes cities safer by providing security-related information and notifications in real time and prior to that she spent a decade as a lawyer. In today's episode we will learn:1) What are most challenging aspects of managing growth?2) How did the fundraising environment change with rising interest rates and inflation? 3) What's Jorge and Vanessa's fundraising advice for tech founders?4) What are the out-of-the-box go-to-market hacks that BHub used to launch?5) What are the key learnings of building and selling  Zen Finance and Biva that Jorge brought to BHub?6) How big of a role luck plays in startup success?

Monday, May 16: For this episode of The J Curve I am thrilled to bring you my conversation with Guilherme Bonifácio and Diego Libanio, founders at Merce do Bairro, a Brazilian marketplace that manages the entire purchasing and delivery process for micro groceries that has recently raised $10 million series A from the likes of  Flourish Ventures (The Omidyar Group‘s investment fund),  Global Founders Capital (GFC), Domo, MAYA, and Alexia Ventures Prior to Merce do Bairro, Diego and Guilherme co-founded alcohol beverage delivery platform Zé Delivery and one of the first Brazilian tech unicorns iFood respectively.In today's episode we will learn:1) What are the core pillars of long lasting partnership?2) What are the nuances of building services for micro groceries in Brazil?3) What are the biggest mistakes founders make when fundraising? Hint - it has everything to do with control rights 4) What should founders look for in the potential financial partner?5) As angel investors, what traits do Guilherme and Diego look for in the founders?6) What's the next billion dollar company nobody's building in Brazil?

Monday, May 2: For this episode of The J Curve I am thrilled to bring you my conversation with Guilherme Freire, co-founder and CEO at Dolado, a Brazilian startup that digitizes small retailers in peripheral areas and small cities that has recently raised $10 million Series A from the likes of Valor Capital Group, Flourish (The Omidyar Group‘s investment fund), Global Founders Capital (GFC), IDB Lab, and Endeavor.Prior to Dolado, Guilherme co-founded LIVO Eyewear and Grow Mobility. In today's episode we will learn:1) What being passionate triathlete taught Guilherme about business?2) What are the main risks of building products for a customer with low level of tech awareness and adoption?3) How to build and raise capital for tech business if you start with a problem that's generally perceived as super niche?4) How does Guilherme think about financial discipline and pros and cons of raising too much capital too soon? What's Guilherme's advice to the founders on control rights and board composition?5) What traits does Guilherme look for in the founders he considers backing as an angel?

Wednesday, April 13: For the final episode of The J Curve's LatAm Power Women in Tech Series I am thrilled to bring you my conversation with Laura Constantini, co-founder and managing partner at Astella, Sao Paulo-based early stage venture capital firm with over $100M assets under management and over 50 companies invested including the likes of Omie and RD Station. Laura is the industry O.G., the pioneer among women investing in venture capital in Latin America. Laura is a co-host at "Astella around the world" show, where she interviews global VCs, LPs and thought leaders. Prior to starting Astella, Laura built an impressive career in Banking and M&A in Banco Santander and Cicerone Capital. In today's episode we will learn:1) What prompted Laura to give up on successful career in finance and make a move into venture capital way ahead of the pack in 2008?2) What were Laura's key learnings from the fundraising for Fund I and Fund II when interest rates were high and market knowledge about venture capital as an asset class low?3) How does the decision making process look like in Astella?4) What is the right time in a startup cycle to form a Board and what's the actual value of the Board for an early stage startup?5) What is Laura's advice to founders raising in a highly liquid market?

Friday, March 25: For this episode I am thrilled to bring you my conversation with Mariana Donangelo, partner at KaszeK, Latin America's leading venture capital firm founded by MercadoLibre co-founder Hernan Kazah and its former CFO Nicolas Szekasy.  KaszeK has recently raised $1B across two funds and since 2011 has backed over 90 companies including tech unicorns Nubank, Creditas, QuintoAndar, Gympass, Loggi and Kavak. Prior to KaszeK Mariana led growth at Invoice2Go and worked in Accel where she was heavily involved with Accel's initiatives in Brazil and Latin America.  And finally, Mariana is a successful angel investor who backed some of the region's leading tech unicorns including Gympass, Nuvemshop and QuintoAndar super early.In today's episode we will learn:1) What are the essential traits of great founders in general and in LatAm specifically?2) What are the key pillars of LatAm market evolution Mariana witnessed over the last decade?3) How does the investment decision making process look like at KaszeK?4) What does it take to be successful in the business of venture capital?5) What is Mariana's single piece of advice for first time founders?

Thursday,  March 17: For this episode, I am thrilled to  bring you my conversation with Monica Saggioro, co-founder at MAYA Capital, Latin American early stage venture capital firm, whose portfolio includes the likes of Alice, EmCasa, Gupy, Kovi, Merama, NotCo and many more. Prior to MAYA Capital, Monica was Head of Operations for RBI Latin America where she managed the operations of 1,800 Burger King restaurants across 30 countries in Latin America and prior to that Monica was Strategic Planning and Product Manager at Whirpool.In today's episode we will learn:1) What does it take to raise money from MAYA? What does MAYA's investment process look like?2) How did Monica's operational background impact her investment approach?3) What does MAYA do to democratize the access to venture capital for founders based outside of tech bubbles in Brazil? 4) What are the markets and industries Monica is especially excited about?5) What are the ways to attract more females to tech and VC?

Tuesday,  February 22: For this episode, I am thrilled to  bring you my conversation with Courtney McColgan, a serial entrepreneur and the founder and CEO at Runa HR, one of the leading payroll software providers for SMBs in Spanish speaking Latin America.  Prior to starting Runa, Courtney was the CMO of Cabify, a taxi application for Latin America, where she grew the company from 3 cities and $20M valuation to 130 cities across 12 countries and a $1.5B valuation. Previously, she also worked in venture capital and finance at Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Morgenthaler and Morgan Stanley.In today's episode we will learn:1) What were the key leadership decisions Courtney had to make to navigate Runa HR through covid-19 crisis?2) What are the critical elements of Runa's corporate culture?3) How to think about fundraising? Does venture capital as a source of capital work for all kind of founders? And what was Courtney's rationale behind taking venture capital money?4) What are the most important things founders have to get right to build scalable organizations?5) What are the unique challenges founders face while building business in Latin America?

Thursday,  February 10: For this episode, I am thrilled to  bring you my conversation with Gina Gotthilf, co-founder at Latitud, a platform helping build the next generation of iconic tech startups in Latin America through a dedicated fellowship and fund.In today's episode we will learn:1) What was it like to build Latitud amidst Covid-19 pandemic? And what is the value Latitud brings to the tech ecosystem in Latin America? 2) What are the unique problems Latin America faces today that could become premises for  scalable tech businesses tomorrow? 3) What are some of the growth hack tips Gina can share with entrepreneurs who achieved product / market fit?4) How do you create a culture of psychological safety around failure?

Tuesday, February 1: For this episode, I am thrilled to  bring you my conversation with Milena Oliveira, founding partner at Volpe Capital, a brand new Sao Paulo-based early and growth VC firm with $100M AUM and the likes of Softbank, BTG. and Banco Inter affiliates among anchor investors.In today's episode we will learn:1) How did the legal environment in Brazil evolve over the course of the last several years?2) What is the biggest challenge Latin American venture capital industry will face in the next few years? 3) What are some important pieces of advice Milena has for the first time tech entrepreneurs in LatAm? 4) What are three important truths everyone who wants to invest in Latin America should know?

Friday, January 21: For this episode, I am thrilled to  bring you my conversation with Bianca Martinelli, partner at Alexia Ventures, Sao Paulo-based early stage VC that invests in SaaS, data & analytics and AI that has recently raised $80M from some of the best entrepreneurs in the region and whose portfolio includes the likes of Merce do Bairro and Hashdex.In today's episode we will learn:1) What is the ultimate value a VC with global operational background can bring to Latin American table?2) What are the distinctive qualities of entrepreneurs doing business in Brazil and LatAm?3) What Bianca and team at Alexia Ventures look for in the founders when they evaluate investment opportunities?4) What are the three biggest lessons from Bianca's 12 year tenure in Endeavor?5) Why having mentors and role models is mission critical for personal and professional growth?